Violent Societies: Networks of Violence in Civil War and Peace (Rethinking Political Violence)

Why are some societies more violent than others? This book uses a novel approach to this dilemma by studying how violence breeds more violence in societies with experience of civil war. It unpacks the relationships between political violence, social violence and economic violence and shows how civil war creates the conditions in which violence with diverse aims, such as vigilantism, rebellion, gang violence and violent xenophobia can co-exist and flourish. It also examines the cultural impact of war and argues that a culture of violence can explain the high levels of violence which are frequently found in post-war societies. It uses examples from South Africa, Northern Ireland, Lebanon and Syria to illustrate this symbiosis between different types of violence and how it can persist even after war has ended.